Dogged with homeschooling 3 kids and both parents lucky enough to be in full-time work have naturally left this too late.
Our E495 is built on the Fiat Ducato 2.3 130 Multijet.
From March 1st the London Emissions Zone is tightening its standards and we'll be liable to a £100 per day payment to take the van on the road. We won't be included (we're in Bromley), in the expanded ULEZ when that takes effect in October 2021.
I know there has been discussion about the merits or otherwise of the tightening standards, I'm not after that, but after suggestions as to what can be done, apart from the obvious moving or selling the van. Nor am I after advice on the merits or otherwise of living within the M25.
I've done a bit of research, but want to see what others think and if I might have missed anything.
Options as I see it:
Our E495 is built on the Fiat Ducato 2.3 130 Multijet.
From March 1st the London Emissions Zone is tightening its standards and we'll be liable to a £100 per day payment to take the van on the road. We won't be included (we're in Bromley), in the expanded ULEZ when that takes effect in October 2021.
I know there has been discussion about the merits or otherwise of the tightening standards, I'm not after that, but after suggestions as to what can be done, apart from the obvious moving or selling the van. Nor am I after advice on the merits or otherwise of living within the M25.
I've done a bit of research, but want to see what others think and if I might have missed anything.
Options as I see it:
- Do nothing and pay up. The cost of any changes may be so much that taking the van out a bit less for longer trips, we might just be better off paying the premium. > this seems mad, as one of the great things about the van is popping out on day trips and not spending £££ on getting lunch somewhere.
- The van is rated at 4005kg, it weighs 3300kg when empty except for me & a full tank of fuel. If the van was rated to under 3500kg we wouldn't need to pay the LEZ charge. > this also seems a it mad. We got a quote from SVTech last year to uprate it to 4500kg as we have so much clobber with the kids + stuff. The idea of travelling with essentially nothing, kind of misses the point! Also, I suspect we'd be liable to pay at a later date.
- Swap out the engine for a new EURO VI engine. > Has anyone actually done this? Is it feasible, what's the cost? Thousands I guess.
- Retrofit. > this is the most obvious thing to do, but finding out information about the practicalities of this has not been easy. Under the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/service/clean-vehicle-retrofit-accreditation-scheme/) there doesn't seem to be anything relevant for a Fiat Ducato engine.
- This thread suggests that the Fiats might have been gaming the system too (we have a Seat Alhambra as a family car which was also caught in the VW cheating scandal): https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/foru...ns-scandal-affecting-fiat-ducato-vans.232242/ - should we try for compensation?
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